Roger Stone: Trump Paid Kathleen Willey So She Could Trash Clintons

The media is highlighting a new web video from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign that features former White House aide Kathleen Willey accusing Bill Clinton of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. In video obtained by Media Matters -- published here for the first time -- close Trump ally Roger Stone says Trump himself gave money to Willey so she would be able to attack the Clintons during Hillary Clinton’s current presidential run. The Office of the Independent Counsel reviewed Willey’s allegations but declined to press charges after determining that Willey repeatedly shifted her story, lied to the FBI, and urged a friend to falsely support her story. She subsequently suggested that the Clintons had murdered her husband in the same way they supposedly murdered former White House aide Vince Foster.

Trump Video Includes Quote From Willey Accusing Bill Clinton Of “Assault.” As The Hill reported, “Donald Trump released a new video on Monday that uses audio of women who have accused President Clinton of sexual assault to attack Hillary Clinton. … Willey, who accused Clinton of sexual assault in 1993, can be heard from a 2007 interview with Sean Hannity saying, ‘No woman should be subjected to it. It was an assault.’" [The Hill, 5/23/16]

Top Trump Ally: Trump Helped Pay Willey’s Mortgage So She Could Attack The Clintons

Roger Stone On Willey Mortgage Trust Fund: “Trump Himself Is A Contributor.”During a February interview on Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory radio show, top Trump ally Roger Stone urged listeners to contribute to a trust fund to help pay off Willey’s mortgage “so she can hit the road and start speaking out on Hillary.” Stone added that “Trump is himself a contributor -- I’m not ready to disclose what he has given.”

ALEX JONES: About the books, in the five minutes we have left, sir, and then any other key points you didn’t make or any other areas of research we can look into and anything else the listeners can do to make sure Donald Trump dominates these primaries and continues to lead?

ROGER STONE: Well there’s one very important thing going on right now. The various victims of Bill Clinton -- those who were raped or attacked or assaulted -- those women are getting organized, and I think a number of them are going to speak out this fall.

One particular woman I want to talk about, very brave, very courageous, someone the Clintons have attempted to crush, Alex, and that is Kathleen Willey. Now I know you had her on your show, and I’m grateful for that. She is struggling to hold on to her home, which is in foreclosure. The Clintons have put enormous economic pressure on her.

JONES: She wasn’t even going public till they killed her cat and threatened to kill her kids.

STONE: Right, exactly. But in this particular case they have discouraged employers, I believe that they are playing with her mortgage company. You can go to HelpWilley.com right now.

JONES: Let’s put it up.

STONE: Help Willey. It’s W-i-l-l-e-y. Every dime we raise is going to pay off her mortgage so she can hit the road and start speaking out on Hillary and not worry about her cat and her home and her domicile. So –

JONES: And I tell you I’m not mad at the listeners -- they’re great people --but we plugged this last time and had like $80 in it or something. Only 3,970 bucks folks, she needs $93,000. We’re in a political war, you gotta spend your money in this fight in every way, putting up billboards, going on radio yourself, whatever it is. I’m not lecturing people, you’ve done a great job, but, just, this is how we’re going to beat them, because they’re trying to take her house right now, and she said if she could not be homeless she’ll be able to go out on the road against the Clintons. Let’s put that website up again one more time for folks, and again pray for her even if you don’t have money, whatever’s fine, it’s at GoFundMe, Willey Mortgage Trust Fund. And that’s what it comes down to.

STONE: Or, short circuit this. Go right to HelpWilley.com. Help Willey, W-i-l-e-e-y (sic). Now the good news is --

JONES: We’re going to tweet that, we’re going to Facebook it right now. We haven’t really done that yet, so we’re going to do that right now. Go ahead, sir.

STONE: I appreciate it. We have raised a substantial amount of money. Trump is himself a contributor -- I’m not ready to disclose what he has given. And many, many other people.

JONES: Oh OK, so that GoFundMe is only one thing.

STONE: That is only receptacle and there are –

JONES: OK so the best place to go again is, again —

STONE: HelpWilley.com. Willey spelled W-i-l-l-e-y. HelpWilley.com will take you right to one of our pages. We have numerous receptacles, we have raised substantially more than 3,970, we’re haggling with the mortgage company even as we speak, and I am still hopeful that we can save Kathleen’s home so she can go out on the road and take the fight right to the Clintons. [The Alex Jones Show, 2/19/16, emphasis added]

The Office Of Independent Counsel Reviewed Willey’s Allegations And Found Them Not Credible

Independent Counsel Declined To Prosecute Clinton, Noting Numerous Contradictions In Willey’s Testimony.Independent counsel Robert Ray reviewed Willey’s allegation that Bill Clinton had sexually assaulted her and declined to prosecute the case, citing “insufficient evidence.” The report found that Willey had repeatedly contradicted herself; that a Willey friend said Willey had instructed her to falsely support her story; and that Willey gave false information to the FBI. [Final Report of the Independent Counsel in Regards to the Whitewater Investigation, March 2002, via Media Matters]

Willey Subsequently Suggested The Clintons Murdered Her Husband And Cat

Willey Accused Clintons Of Killing Her Husband Like They Supposedly Killed Vince Foster. Willey's husband, Edward Willey, committed suicide on November 29, 1993 -- the same day on which she claims Bill Clinton sexually harassed her after she asked him for a job. At the time, Edward Willey owed the IRS $400,000, had stolen $275,000 from a client, and was being threatened with disbarment. Kathleen Willey has since insinuated that her husband was actually murdered at the behest of the Clintons, and suggested a possible parallel to the death of former White House aide Vince Foster. Fringe conservatives have for years claimed that Foster was murdered in spite of numerous investigations proving that he took his own life. [Media Matters, 2/18/14]

Josh Marshall: “Get It Together, Journos.”In a post at Talking Points Memo, editor Josh Marshall wrote, “With Trump again making rape accusations against his opponents (sic) husband, it's really incumbent on reporters to bring up the fact that there is sworn testimony from Trump's then-wife Ivana that he raped her in a fit of rage over a failed baldness remediation surgery. Come on, folks. Get it together.” [TPM Media, 5/23/16]

Cable And Broadcast Discussions OfNY Times Report On Trump And Women Ignored Sexual Harassment Allegation. Two of the people The New York Times referenced in a May 14 report detailing Trump’s misogyny were Jill Harth and her former boyfriend George Houraney, who had both “worked with Mr. Trump on a beauty pageant in Atlantic City and later accused Mr. Trump of inappropriate behavior toward Ms. Harth during their business dealings.” The Boston Globe detailed Harth and Houraney's accounts extensively in April, which included accusations of sexual harassment by the candidate against his reported business partner in the pageant, Ms. Harth. But cable and broadcast coverage of the Times article ignored Harth’s allegations. [Media Matters, 5/23/16]

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Matt Gertz is a senior fellow at Media Matters, where he has worked since May 2007. He served as the organization’s research director during the 2016 election cycle. He has written extensively on press coverage of politics and elections, as well as on media ethics and regulations. Matt has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University. He is married to Washington Post opinion writer Alyssa Rosenberg.